Dwello-Ironheart War
The Dwello-Ironheart War was the first major conflict in Veria fought between the Dwarves of Dwellanor and the Kingdom of Ironvale and it's allies. It was started with King James Benoit's ambitions to expand dwarven power and influence by annexing the city of Ironvale into his domain. Ironvale's allies would soon join the war against Dwellanor, seeing the display of hostility from the dwarves as an imminent threat to all other nearby human nations. Armies of both sides would eventually meet face-to-face during the Siege of Ironvale, resulting in the defeat and rout of the Dwellanor army and ultimately the surrender of King James. The war would officially end with the signing of the Halcyon Concordant a few days after the siege. History Prelude After the 2nd Council of Nations, King James Benoit became aggravated at the affairs of the southern realm of humans nations and their seemingly never ending expansion of territory and acquisition of power, feeling that these various rising powers threatened his rule, James began to devise plans to weaken his neighbors and strengthen the influence of the dwarves. Siege of Ironvale Setting his sights on the nearby city of Ironvale, James Benoit formally declared war upon the Kingdom of Ironvale, whose allies would later join against Dwellanor. Although the dwarves had a noteworthy fighting force of 500, the combined armies of Ironvale and it's allies would prove to be too numerous. To even the odds, James Benoit hired 300 warriors from the Chiefdom of Fenia to assist him in the siege to come with the promises of loot and an easy victory. After mustering his army, now bolstered by the Fenians, James marched his forces out of Dwellanor on the road to Ironvale, upon arriving, he instructed his army to set up camp on top of a nearby hill that overlooked the city, which was later known as Stonehill. In the midst of a stormy night, couriers from the city managed to sneak out unharmed and send word to Ironvale's allies, pleading for assistance in the defense of the city. All allied nations would answer the call to arms and hastily organized their armies together and marched to Ironvale. By the time morning arrived, the storm which had started the previous night was still present which allowed the allied armies to enter the city unnoticed by the Dwellanor army, reinforcing the cities garrison from 300 to 800. Later in the day the storm temporarily cleared long enough for dwarven sentries to notice the sudden increase of defenders in the city, upon reporting this to King James, he decided to attempt an assault on the settlement before more enemy reinforcements could arrive and outnumber his army. Within the following hour the storm picked up again now more intense than ever, despite the poor weather conditions the assault was still launched, however the attack was poorly executed leading to a rout before they could even reach the walls, resulting in 100 Dwellanor and Fenian deaths compared to very few defender's dead or wounded. Frustrated at the failure of the first attack, King James planned for another assault the following day after his army had rested and recovered. At dawn of the 3rd day, the dwarven king himself led his force out of their camp, now equipped with siege equipment for a 2nd assault. The majority of the attacking force had occupied a blacksmith house and its surrounding area while catapults were being positioned to breach the walls. In a desperate attempt to prevent the walls from being breached, Gilgamesh, King of the Deucalians sallied out of the city with a small force of warriors to stop the catapults before they were set up, surprised and unprepared at the sudden charge of Gilgamesh and his warriors, the soldiers manning the catapults were easily driven off, and in the midst of the confusion, several hundred more dwarves and Fenians alike were killed, soon leading to a mass rout. Expecting an easy victory like promised instead of what appeared to be a lost cause, Chieftain Sam Ice of the Fenians gave the order to his warriors to withdraw from the entire siege itself, retreating back to their homeland in the north. The remainder of the dwarven army having seen so many of their own slain and their Fenian auxiliaries in full withdrawal, were to demoralized to continue fighting and instead broke and fled back to Dwellanor. King James Benoit, also distraught at the loss of his kin and seeing no other way to take the city, formally conceded defeat and surrendered.